A 3.4 Traditional Storytelling Project: Partner Work

Blackboard Discussion:

Thread: Public Librarian Seeking School Librarian Post:RE: Public Librarian Seeking School Librarian Author: Sabahat Vahidy Posted Date: March 9, 2014 4:50 PM Status: Published

Subject: South Asian/Middle Eastern Folktales
Me: an aspiring children's librarian
You: an aspiring children's librarian

I am interested in exploring the folklore of the people native to Pakistan/India/Arabia. I'm not certain what country/culture I will choose, but hope to find a traditional story that will appeal to children.

I would love to work with someone who has a sense of humor, adventure, and curiosity like a child. I hope you will give me your time, encouragement, and patience. Together we can share ideas about how to engage children through storytelling.

Thanks,
Saba

Hi Saba,

Your story ideas sound interesting! I am very interested in hearing more about the folklore of Pakistan/India/Arabia, especially traditional children's stories.
Originally, I my post stated that I was thinking about a Native American folktale. However, after thoroughly reading the assignment instructions, I have decided that I might like to do a traditional story from Western Europe (England, Denmark, Germany) since we have family ties to that region. As you said, I have "curiosity like a child" and a sense of humor and adventure! Would you possibly like to work together on this project? I am very flexible about how we could communicate (email, phone, skype, etc.) and am willing to give honest feedback :)

Thanks!
Jeni T.

Hi Jeni,

Sorry for the late reply...
Thanks for your offer and I'd be happy to work with you!
Looking forward to to your traditional tale from Western Europe...

Thanks,
Saba :)

Saba,

That sounds great and I'm happy to work with you, too! Here's my personal email address: jenibtesta@gmail.com .
I would love to hear about your ideas so far for the traditional story and how your process is going so far. Thanks again
and happy to be working together :)

Jeni T.

Email Correspondence:

It's Jeni from "The Art of Storytelling" class! Hope you're having a nice week and weekend so far! Wanted to let you know that I sent you a request from my wikispace to please join as a member on the page.

Have you had any luck so far on figuring out a story to tell for the Traditional Storytelling Project? I've been up and down, and back and forth, and have finally decided to go with my original intention, which was to tell a story from the Cultural Research Project. I'm doing a study on Cherokee Folktales (narrowed down from my original topic of Native American folktales), and have finally chosen one story that will be perfect for an oral presentation. It's called "Yonder Mountain" and is not too long, not too short, not too detailed, and not too sparse!!

Hope you're making some progress and finding some good ideas that you might use. I'm looking forward to hearing about what you've found and would be happy to talk with you more about that, if you like.

Thanks and have a great evening!
Jeni Testa

Hi Jeni,

Sorry for the late reply...

Thanks for the wikispaces invite. Please note that I've joined your wiki. My user name for this class is sabavahidy. I accidentally logged into wikispaces with an old username from a previous semester. Please disregard that.

Your traditional Cherokee story sounds fascinating. Can't wait to hear it!

As for my project, I seem to have procrastinated a bit. I'm still working on my culture research right now. Hopefully my story will be one from among those. My original topic was South Asian cultures. I've narrowed it down to the country of India basically because there are an abundance of folktales from there as compared to any other country in the region.

Hope to make more progress this week. Thanks for writing. Talk to you later.

Take care,
Saba

Hi Saba,

No worries! Thanks for the reply! May I also join your wiki (the correct one!)? I think you were successfully added to mine :)

The Cherokee story is a good one and I'm going to start practicing very soon!! Have you had any other luck with your story? A story
from India sounds great and it's always nice to have lots of options!! Good luck to you and talk with you soon!

Take care,
Jeni T

Hi Saba,

Just checking in to say hello! Did you attend the TLA conference? I wasn't able to go this year, but hope to go in the near future, sometime!

Are you having any progress with your traditional story? I've been doing some practicing and have just started to do a couple of test-runs as "live recordings," although not with an audience yet ;)

It's getting a little bit easier with each run-through, but I think it still has room for improvements!! I've attached one of my quick practices here (please excuse the crazy hair, it was first thing in the morning!). I would love to hear your feedback and see what you think about how it's going so far. I would also love to help you if you've got a practice run, or even if you've already filmed yours!

Hope you're having a nice week & talk with you soon!
Jeni T.

Hi Jeni,

Yes, I was at TLA this week. It was hectic, tiring, and fun. Hope you get to experience it someday!

I've just been reciting my story, "The Gifts of Wali Dad" out loud repeatedly to learn it. I'm trying to know it by heart. I haven't recorded myself yet.

Thanks for your video link. I will look at it ASAP. I will definitely get back to you soon with some feedback.

Talk to you later,
Saba :)

Hi Jeni,

I've watched your video and I was very impressed! You did a great job with a beautiful story.

I'm attaching my initial feedback for you. Hope it's helpful.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Take care,
Saba :)



Saba,

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate your quick response and the very helpful feedback. Today I tried it standing up, and I think that might have a little bit better impact :) Thank you for your notes- I'll work on the ending for sure and will change up the tones of some of the characters. Please let me know whenever I can help you with your story! Looking forward to hearing it!

Thanks again,
Jeni T.

Hi Saba,

Just checking in with you to see how your Traditional Storytelling project is going. I'll be telling my story tonight & having my husband videotape it. Hope things
are going well for you and please let me know if there's anything I can do to assist you!

Thanks & have a great day!


Jeni T.


Hi Jeni,

Here's one of my practice videos of the story The Gifts of Wali Dad. The audio recording was very poor using my laptop's webcam. So, I had to use the desktop computer instead. Please excuse the kids' room in the background and my allergies! I know I need more practice to polish it. I hope to get some feedback from you to improve my story.

Thanks for your help,

Saba​

Hi Saba,

Great job on telling your story!! I've included the feedback sheet here for you. Good luck to you and I love the story!

Jeni T.




Hi Jeni,

Thanks so much for the valuable feedback. I'm glad you were able to follow the story and enjoy it.

I agree with your comment about hand gestures. I too felt that it was lacking in the presentation, but I was trying my hardest not to touch my face while recording, as my nose was itching terribly! Hopefully when I perform the story standing up I can make better use of my hands.

I appreciate all of your good thoughts and words of encouragement.
Good luck to you too,
Saba :)